HUGH VAN CUYLENBURG
THE RESILIENCE PROJECT AUTHOR TALKS ALL THINGS MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health can be a taboo topic for many, but Hugh van Cuylenburg is trying to break down the barriers. He isn’t a self-help guy in the traditional sense, but a teacher who wants to give as many people as he can the tools to be happier and more resilient.
What is your elevator pitch for your live shows?
I try to provide really accessible stories that will help inspire people to want to feel better, cope in a challenging time and improve their mental health. The stories are what hooks people in to how important the stuff is and once they are involved in the stories and feel emotionally engaged in what we are saying, we have a whole heap of resources to meet the person wherever they are at.
You worked with AFL star Dustin Martin. Is he an example of how you want to hook people in to start talking about mental health?
Unashamedly, I leverage the stories of these people. You see some men in the audience thinking “what am I doing here” because clearly their wife had dragged them there. And I can actually see their body language change when he is on the screen. It goes from “What is this?” to “Oh wait, Dusty does this stuff ? Actually, I don’t mind this.”
You talk about how we need better connection to people. Is it as simple as putting your phone down?
Unfortunately it is as simple as that, but that’s not going to help most people because we are all addicted. The way to do this very simply is to start seeing vulnerability as a strength, not a weakness. Be true to who we are on that day and share what you’re struggling with, because when you share that to other people it sends the signal that “I can’t do this by myself, I need support”. And nobody can get through this life without support.
You mentioned for years how much you admired Hamish Blake, but you have now gone from fan to friend. How does that feel?
It’s a strange one. It took me a while to relax. We went mountain biking for four days and I spent the first day still feeling like a fan. He would say something that was eight out of 10 funny and I would react like it was 20 out of 10 because I really wanted to impress him. It’s weird, he has become one of my closest friends because he lives and breathes all the things I do.
(Hugh van Cuylenburg: G.E.M premieres Mar. 9 on Prime Video)